


You and I Alone Among the Stars

by solarmau



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Mutual Pining, POV Third Person Limited, Slow Burn, Wilderness Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:20:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25845691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/solarmau/pseuds/solarmau
Summary: Glimmer and Catra managed to escape Horde Prime's ship together through the teleporter. However, their coordinates change and they end up landing on an alien planet with giant creatures and strange weather. They have to learn to work together if they're going to survive here. At least, until Mara's ship finds them... if they ever find them, that is.
Relationships: Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 101





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *looks at the lack of works in the glitra tag* you guys are in a crisis. im on my way.

All Glimmer could see was darkness as her entire body vibrated at immeasurable speeds as she was thrust through the vacuum of space to who-knows-where. It was such an uncomfortable, unnatural sensation. She didn’t feel like she had any weight, like she wasn’t tangible anymore. She couldn’t think, she couldn’t properly process what was happening to her body. She started to slowly feel things again, but she still couldn’t move. There was a loud ringing in her ear, the vibrating sensation was growing stronger and stronger until…

Her eyes shot open and she let out a deep gasp, forcing air back into her lungs as if she had just held her head underwater. She didn’t get up right away, she stayed on her back waiting for her mind to recalibrate again. She twitched her fingers, then waved her hands, then raised her arms. She felt normal again, albeit a bit sick to her stomach. She never felt like this when teleporting herself. Using her magic was natural, quick, and almost rejuvenating. This was the exact opposite of that, it felt like an artificial and cheap imitation of her magic.

The sound of alien creatures whooping and clicking was all around her. A thick canopy of strange alien trees obscured her vision of the sky that had been completely covered in weirdly colored clouds. The trees were basket-shaped, with the bark being a ghostly white and dark red leaves the color of blood. A tree with a twisting body had fruits growing from it that smelled… weird. Glimmer couldn’t pull the right words together to describe the smell of the fruit. It wasn’t like anything she ever smelled before. It was just _weird_. The bright-red grass was really soft, though, like the fur of a baby animal... it was really weird.

She gasped and scrambled to her feet. _Catra_ . She almost forgot about her. She pulled Catra into the teleporter-thing with her, assuming they’d end up at the same place. “ _Catra_!” She screamed into the canopy. That probably wasn’t a smart idea, considering there were alien creatures probably hiding in the shadows.

She paused to wait for a response, or at least listen out for any movement around her. Nothing. Not a peep. She called out a second time, a bit more restraint in her voice to keep from ringing the dinner bell to any hungry alien monsters. Still no response. She was starting to panic now. No, no this can’t be happening. She can’t be all alone on this alien planet, not knowing if anyone was coming to save her. Please, _please_ let that not be the case.

Someone somewhere must have heard her pleas. She took two steps forward, and saw Catra laying on her side behind a bush. Glimmer didn’t let herself sigh in relief just yet. Catra wasn’t moving at all, and her limbs were sprawled out and limp. She dropped to her side, and grabbed Catra’s shoulders, giving them a rough shake. 

“Catra? Catra, get up!” She shouted into her ear. She pressed two fingers to her neck, her muscles relaxing and she let out a sigh when she felt a pulse. 

Catra had faced most of the brunt of the prime clones’ attacks. She handled herself fine against them for a while. Prime’s clones weren’t exactly a force to be reckoned with in hand-to-hand combat, but their numbers proved too much for her. Nothing important was broken, according to Glimmer’s loose medical knowledge. But she was bruised up bad, her face starting to swell up. 

Glimmer tried to take a few timed breaths to steady her nerves before clapping her hands together. Okay, what was the first thing she should do? Find water. Wait, then what about Catra? She can’t just leave her here, and Glimmer didn’t want to get lost in this weird alien forest. Okay, nevermind. Step one: Get Catra out of the open. The basket trees seemed like decent shelter for a few hours until they found better ones.

She hesitated to reach down and try and pick her up, though. The paranoia in the back of her mind told her that if she tried to touch Catra, she’d suddenly snap awake and scratch her eye out. She shook Catra again, pausing to give her time to react. She was out cold, so Glimmer was probably safe with trying to drag her a few feet.

She grabbed beneath Catra’s arms and lifted her up with a deep grunt. Catra’s head hung limp on her neck as Glimmer walked backwards, Catra’s legs dragging along the ground. “You can wake up and help me out here anytime you’d like, y’know.” She said sarcastically, though she was only answered with silence. 

She ducked her head as she finally managed to drag Catra into one of the basket-shaped trees. Once her body was inside, Glimmer plopped her down and let out an exasperated sigh. She put her hands on her hips and looked down, panting a bit as she waited for Catra to start stirring awake. She gave her a bit of a shove with the inside of her foot, but the only response she got was her face twitching slightly.

“Why are you _still_ asleep?” Glimmer shouted in frustration at Catra’s limp body.

It was probably her nerves that made her impatient to have her get up as soon as possible. They had no idea where they were, or how far away Mara’s ship was, or if Prime was still looking for them. And on top of that, they didn’t know to survive on here if they were going to be staying here for a while. They needed a plan now, and she wasn’t sure how much more time they could spend just standing around here.

A thud against the ground outside of the tree made her flinch. She froze for a moment, her mind jumping to the worst possible scenario and imagining a blood-thirsty beast outside their shelter. She looked through the holes in the bark, relaxing upon realizing that there wasn’t anything there. One of those weird-smelling fruits had fallen from the tree and landed outside. She poked her head out and gave it a look.

The fruit was yellowish-red with hair-like spines growing from the exterior. Glimmer reached out and grabbed it. Her face wrinkled up as she cringed from the powerful odor emitting from it. If this smell didn’t wake Catra up, she wasn’t sure what else will. She placed the fruit beside her and wafted the smell towards her nose. Her nose immediately started twitching and her nose scrunched up. 

Her eyelid twitched before they slowly peeled open. “What the…” She looked at the fruit and looked up at Glimmer. She bared her teeth and growled. “Get that out of my face!” She smacked the fruit away, only to shriek in pain and draw her arm back in. 

Glimmer reached out to try and help her, only to be swatted away by Catra’s opposite hand. Catra waited for the pain to die down as she tucked her injured arm up to her chest. She looked down at the red-colored grass and her eyes slowly moved up towards the canopy. Her mouth hung agape as the realization dawned upon her.

“Don’t freak out,” Glimmer said in a low voice, the way one would talk to keep from spooking a deer. “Something must have gone wrong, we ended up on some planet. But I need you to keep it together, okay? We need to keep our cool so that we can—”

Catra snarled and swung her good arm and landed a punch square on Glimmer’s jaw. She didn’t hit her hard, not as hard as she could have, but it was mostly the initial surprise that caused her to stumble back and fall. Catra climbed on top of her, raising her fist to ready herself for another punch. 

“Are you stupid?” She screamed. “Why did you do that? I told you to get in the teleporter and go. But no, you princesses _have_ to be the hero. Now we’re stuck on this nowhere planet because of you!”

Glimmer raised a knee and kicked Catra in the stomach, sending her back. She must have landed on one of her injuries because she let out a wail of agony. It almost made Glimmer feel guilty for using so much force. “I was helping you!” She countered as she rose to her feet. 

“I didn’t ask for your help!” Catra spat as her tail lashed in anger. “You could have gone back with Adora and that’d be the end of it.”

“I wasn’t going to leave you, not after everything we’ve been through together!” The crack in Glimmer’s voice ruined any attempt to make herself sound in control. “If I left you, then Horde Prime—”

“I don’t care what happens to me, don’t you get it?” She roared as she tried and failed to stand back up. She took a moment to regain her bearings before standing up, grunting and groaning in pain as she did so. She ran her opposite hand through her hair and sighed, her ears laying flat out. “I wanted to go out doing one good thing, so I could at least tell myself it all wasn’t… a waste. You ruined that. You aren’t on that ship with Adora, so this was all for nothing.”

“But it’s not!” Glimmer cried, starting to get annoyed at the realization that she was arguing with a brick wall. “You can still do good things, it’s not too late for you.”

Glimmer was trying very hard not to let her anger get the best of her right now, because now was absolutely not the time for it. They needed to work together if they were going to get out of this. But trying to keep her patience with Catra was proving to be the most difficult thing she had to overcome right now. She stepped forward and offered a hand, to which Catra pinned her ears back and smacked away. Something about that gesture ticked her off.

“Alright, that’s it.” Glimmer’s small hands balled into tight fists as a vein popped on her neck. “I’m not going to keep arguing with you on this. What you wanted to happen, how you thought this was gonna go, that doesn’t matter now. I’m alive, you’re alive, and that’s where we’re at now. Acting miserable isn’t going to get us out of this situation, alright? So are you gonna keep sitting here whining, or are you going to do something?”

They both seemed to silently understand that neither of them was going to budge. Catra looked down at the arm she tucked up to her chest, her finger twitching slightly. “Alright, fine.” She grumbled. “So what’s the plan, Sparkles?”

Glimmer was grateful she didn’t try and continue that pointless argument again. She cracked a small smile in pride, considering this a small victory. “First of all, we should look for water. Then let you rest up some more so your injuries can heal.”

“I’m fine,” Catra muttered as she turned her gaze away.

“Don’t try that with me, Catra. It isn’t cute.” Glimmer said with some smugness in her voice. Catra gave her a look before she ducked through the holes in the tree and came out the other end. “Come on, let’s get moving while we still have light.” Catra kept grunting and groaning as she tried to squeeze herself through the hole in the tree. “Do you need…?” She stopped herself when Catra shot a glare at her. Why did she even bother asking?”

Catra got herself out eventually, her teeth gritting as she stood up. She started walking ahead before Glimmer could give her another look of pity. They didn’t say anything after that, their attention was focused on the environment around them. Catra’s ears kept twitching and shifting around on each side of her head, her nose wrinkling at the foreign smells that flooded her nose.

“Do you think there’s other people here?” Glimmer asked, walking with her eyes up to the canopy as she saw some animal moving among the shadows. “People that can help us, I mean.”

“How am I supposed to know?” Catra scoffed.

“I’m just trying to start a conversion,” Glimmer muttered under her breath as she gave a rock in her path a good kick. A mucus-covered amphibian-like animal scurried across her feet. She wrinkled her face up before stepping over it and following after her companion. “I hope they find us soon…”

“Who? Prime?”

“What? No, why would I—” She clapped her hands together and inhaled sharply through her nose. “I _meant_ , I hope Bow and Adora get here soon.”

Catra snickered. “Keep dreaming, Sparkles. They aren’t gonna find us.”

“Yes, they will,” Glimmer knew Catra was just saying that to get on her nerves and that all she was doing was encouraging her, yet she couldn’t help but argue with her. “You sent our coordinates to the ship, didn’t you? They should know where to find us.”

“Yeah, I sent the coordinates of where _I_ wanted you to go.” Catra corrected quickly with annoyance in her voice. “I don’t know if Prime’s computer thing knew to update it when our location changed. It probably didn’t.”

“Can you stop being negative for, like, five seconds?” 

“I cannot, no.”

“Would it kill you to make the effort?” Glimmer insisted. “Look around! We aren’t on Prime’s ship anymore, isn’t that a miracle? There’s air and trees and grass, I thought I was never going to see it again!”

“Yeah, what an upgrade.” Catra rolled her eyes. “We were going to die on a ship, now we’re going to die on some random planet.”

“C’mon, it’s just you and me, Catra.” Glimmer stood up on the balls of her feet to raise herself higher and meet her eyes better. “You don’t have to keep up this act, you know.”

Catra raised a brow at her. “What act?”

“Y’know, your ‘tough guy’ act.” Glimmer gave her a playful nudge with her shoulder, forgetting that Catra’s right arm was her bad one.

“I don’t… It’s not…” Catra pinned her ears and rubbed the sore spot on her arm that Glimmer just bumped. She rolled her eyes and kept looking forward. “Whatever.”

Catra suddenly stopped in her tracks and sniffed the air. She sniffed around, walking in the direction that her nose was leading her. She walked over to a fat tree that looked like an overfilled water balloon, sniffing the bark as she placed her hand on it. Glimmer covered her mouth with her hand to suppress a chuckle. She looked so… _stupid_.

“There’s water here,” Catra reported as she stepped back and knocked on the tree.

“Okay… how do we get it out?” Glimmer asked as she joined beside her, their shoulders brushing together.

“Do you mind?” Catra growled and pushed her aside. Glimmer narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

She raised her good hand and unsheathed her claws. With a swipe, she cut cleanly through the tree. The dark-gray bark was thicker than she initially anticipated, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. She swung three more times, making deep cuts into the wood each time. She ripped some of the bark away with her bare hand before continuing to scratch at the wood.

“You’ll get a splinter doing that,” Glimmer commented from the sides.

Catra rolled her eyes and chose to ignore her. She was doing all the work here, she didn’t have to listen to what she had to say. It was hard to claw at the hole she made when she only had one hand to work with. After digging like an animal for at least a minute, water started to flow from the hole she made. She heard Glimmer gasp in surprise behind her, surprised that it actually worked. It had a different smell compared to Etherian water, but it was safe… hopefully. Considering she was the one who found the water, she felt entitled to the first drink.

“Hurry up, I’m thirsty too.” Glimmer said. Just to spite her, Catra took her sweet time drinking water from the tree even after she had her fill. The position she was standing in was uncomfortable anyway, though, so she just got up and stepped out of her way.

Glimmer immediately dove in once she got out of her way. It felt weird lapping at water from a hole in a tree like an animal, and she cringed whenever she felt something solid, which was probably dirt or bugs, flowing down her tongue. Despite all of that, she felt her strength returning to her after a few gulps. There wasn’t water on Prime’s ship, just some weird alien drink that tastes like medicine. 

Catra let out a restrained yelp. Glimmer flinched and whipped around. “What’s wrong?”

Catra was looking at her hand that was growing red with irritation, teeth clenched and ears pinned. “It’s nothing.”

Glimmer failed to hold back a snicker. “You have splinters in your hand, don’t you?”

“I said it’s fine,” She curled her hand to a fist and held it at her side. 

“Quit being a baby and let me see it,” Glimmer grabbed her wrist and looked down at her hand, Catra’s claws retreating halfway back into its sheath. She had a couple of splinters, two on her fingers, and one on her knuckle. Without warning, she quickly yanked out the thin splinter on her knuckle.

“ _Ow_!” Catra hissed and tried to pull her arm back, the fur on her tail and body standing on end. ‘You did that on purpose.”

“Seriously?” Glimmer readjusted her grip on Catra’s wrist. “C’mon, that one wasn’t even deep.” Catra’s tail lashed as she mentally prepared for Glimmer to yank out the other two. “Fine, how about we count to three?”

“Just get it out, will you?” Catra grumbled.

Glimmer tried to be quick with these last ones. She pinched the thick one first and sharply tugged it out. That one didn’t come out as cleanly as the other one did. It was putting up a fight before Glimmer got it out. A tiny red dot started to form from the opened wound, the skin around it already red from irritation. She ignored the look that Catra gave her and pulled out the last one, which needed a bit more of a tug before coming free.

“There! See? Was that so bad?” Glimmer released her grip on her and Catra immediately pulled her arm back. Catra glared at her as she licked the red spots on her hand. “Honestly, you are _so_ dramatic.”

“Says you,” Catra shot back quickly before going back to licking her hand. 

Glimmer started bursting out laughing. “I’m sorry, I just… all these years you were this big bad force captain, yet this entire time your biggest weakness was a lil’ splinter?”

“I said it wasn’t hurting!” Catra growled to try and prove her point, but her tail getting fluffy and her cheeks reddening wasn’t helping her case. “And I was the one that got the water for you, aren’t I? I don’t hear a thank you.”

Glimmer giggled. “Thank you, Catra.”

The fur on her tail smoothed out and she let out a huff. “So now what, Sparkles?”

The process of getting water alone was causing gray hairs to form on Glimmer’s scalp. The swelling around Catra’s face was growing pretty bad now, even if she was making an effort to ignore it. “Let’s just… rest for a bit and then we can figure something out.”

Catra looked like she wanted to say another snarky comment. She had that look in her eyes that made Glimmer groan in anticipation for whatever was about to come out her mouth. But she must have realized that it wasn’t worth the energy, so she just turned and started walking back the way they came. She was finally starting to learn to bite her tongue, thankfully. Glimmer wasn’t sure how long she’d keep her sanity if she had to keep going back and forth like this with her.

They walked back to another basket-shaped tree to take shelter in. Glimmer didn’t feel like walking all the way back to the one they originally claimed. This one seemed younger, since the tree was slimmer and shorter. The open area inside was also smaller than the other one. She waited for Catra to climb inside, but she was just standing a few feet away with her tail dropped so low it was brushing against the grass.

“What’s wrong?” Glimmer frowned.

Catra looked up at her and pinned her ears back. “You go inside,” She said. “I’ll just… I need some time to myself.”

Glimmer’s first instinct was to protest. They needed to be together in case something happened. And Catra had worse injuries than Glimmer, she needed to rest until she got better. Other than that, Glimmer didn’t want to be by herself. Catra wasn’t the best company, but she was better than no company. But maybe this was for the best, this was probably they both needed. They could take a couple of minutes to cool off, then they’d come back and be less cranky towards each other.

“Okay…” Glimmer said in a quiet voice as she rubbed her shoulder. “Don’t go too far, okay? I’ll be here.”

Catra nodded slowly before turning around and walking out of her eyesight. Glimmer ducked and walked beneath the tree, a few alien bugs skittering away as she sat down and leaned back against the bark. She looked through a hole in the direction Catra went off into. She wasn’t sure how far away she walked, but she hoped she wasn’t within earshot.

Glimmer took a deep breath in. Then she cried. She tried to sob as quietly as she could so Catra couldn’t hear, but the overwhelming emotions bottled up inside her that she only now was able to let out made that difficult. She buried her face in her palms, which quickly became soaked from her tears. Her body trembled and her voice quivered with the occasional hiccup. The tears were starting to flow faster than she could wipe them, and she could hardly breathe as her hiccups harder to control.

Catra was probably right. Adora and Bow weren’t coming. The coordinates changed, and as far as they knew they were billions of miles further away, probably so far that coming here wasn’t even worth the trouble. She’ll never get to tell Bow and Adora that she’s sorry, sorry for everything wrong in the world being her fault. What could she even say to get them to forgive her? Were there any words that she could string together to undo all the damage that she’d done?

Is this it? She’s going to just die on this planet? She wasn’t going to grow old with her friends, she was going to die on this nowhere planet and not a single soul beside Catra was going to be there with her in her final moments? 

Glimmer shook her head and squeezed her eyes. _No, no no, don’t think like that_. She had to be positive. She had to keep her optimism. She had nothing else, she couldn’t lose that too.

* * *

Glimmer didn’t realize she fell asleep. She became exhausted from crying and rested her head against the tree, only to find herself waking up with an ache in her neck from the awkward position she fell asleep in. She sat up quickly and patted her hair. How long was she asleep? It didn’t feel like she was out for a long time, she just nodded off for a few minutes.

She peeked through the holes in the bark, sighing in relief when she saw Catra laying outside. Glimmer wiggled out of the tree, dusting herself off as she rose to her feet. Catra was laying on her side beneath another tree a length away, a large alien reptile thing laying limp in her hands as she was chewing on its tail. If they were on Etheria and nothing else was wrong in the world, that sight might have grossed her out. But she saw Catra eating and, to her own displeasure, her stomach growled.

“Catra…” She said quietly as she approached her.

Catra bared her teeth and hissed, protectively shielding her catch. She looked more like a wild animal than a person. Glimmer’s eyes shot open and she stepped back. She never saw Catra get like this before, it was jarring to behold with her own two eyes. 

“Nuh-uh, get your own.” Catra snapped, her tail aggressively swaying back and forth. “I’m not one of our servants, Sparkles. I gave you water already _and_ I saved you from Prime’s clones, what more do you…”

Catra blinked when she and Glimmer locked gazes for a moment. Glimmer’s eyes were red and puffy from crying. She hoped Catra wouldn’t notice, but she did. Glimmer turned her head away, but it was too late. Catra lay her ears back and her gaze softened. There was a glint of guilt in her eyes for the way she let herself act. With a reluctant sigh, she patted the ground beside her.

“C’mon, you can… we can share.” Catra said quietly, her ears laid flat against her head as her tail curled up. Glimmer sat down in front of her, and a heavy silence lingered between them. It was Catra who broke the silence. “I’m sorry,” She said. “For… for snapping like that.”

Glimmer never imagined she’d hear those words from Catra of all people. She managed a smile as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “I forgive you,” She said.

Catra offered her the reptile to her as a peace offering, her cheeks getting warm. Glimmer gave their meal a look of disgust, which got an amused chuckle out of Catra. “What? These not your type of pickings, princess?”

“It’s _queen_ , remember?” Glimmer smirked back at her, but it quickly fell to a frown. “Not like that matters anymore.”

“Well, I don’t have anyone to boss around either, if that makes you feel better.” Catra responded, some awkwardness in her voice as she wasn’t sure how to lift the mood. She unsheathed a claw and sliced through the reptile, handing Glimmer a chunk of meat. “Here.”

“I don’t ‘boss’ people around,” Glimmer corrected. She looked down at the chunk of meat in her hand. It didn’t exactly smell appetizing. She slowly raised it to her lips, the meat becoming less and less appetizing the closer it got to her lips. She closed her eyes and tossed it in her mouth, chewing it as fast as she could and tried her best to keep it from touching her tongue. She shuddered as the chewed up meat slid down her throat.

Catra threw her head back and started laughing. “Wow, and you say I’m the dramatic one?”

Glimmer wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as she cringed. “Well excuse me, I don’t usually eat my meat this raw.”

“Hey, I caught this for myself, alright?” Catra said. “If you hate what I catch so much, go hunt your own food.”

“I don’t know how to hunt,” Glimmer protested. Her eyes suddenly had a gleam in them and she eagerly clapped her hands together. “Hey! You can teach me how to hunt!” Catra started laughing so hard that tears started to form in her eyes. “What's so funny?”

“I’m sorry, I can’t—” She paused to belt out another laugh. “The idea of you trying to hunt? Living off the land? _Please_. Besides, you’re so bright and sparkly you’ll scare away anything within a mile.”

“I think I’ll surprise you,” Glimmer crossed her arms confidently. “In fact, I think I can catch something bigger than what you can get.”

"Oh, I'd love to see that." Catra rolled her eyes. She stretched her back out before sitting up. “You can have the rest, I’m gonna—”

A roar from a gigantic beast suddenly erupted over the mountains in the distance, the sheer volume of their voice shaking the trees and startling the critters. Creatures took off to the sky and scattered across the floor in an attempt to get as far away from the source of that sound as possible. Catra and Glimmer both froze in place until the roar slowly ceased. Nothing but silence followed the roar. Not a peep came from the bugs and birds, until a few moments later when they went back to chirping and clicking as if nothing had even happened.

“What was that?” Glimmer cried as she jumped to her feet, eyes shot wide and heart pounding in her chest.

“Do I look like I know?” Catra snapped back, her tail having become puffy as it twitched nervously behind her. 

“It sounded far away…” Glimmer struggled to keep her hands from shaking. She looked over at Catra, her ears pointed forward. “Should we run?”

Catra took a deep breath in to steady her nerves. “Let’s… put some distance between us and that… _thing_ .” She took a few steps backward before turning around and gesturing for Glimmer to follow. She then let out a groan like this was an inconvenience, and not a potentially life-threatening situation. “Why does it always have to be something? Of _course_ we had to land on the planet with giant monsters.”

Glimmer looked up at the sky and sighed. “And it’ll be dark in a few hours.” She reported. Catra let out another groan at her observation. “Let’s find a place to sleep for the night, okay? You can sleep first.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice, Sparkles.” Catra seemed to walk faster at that, as though hoping to get to a safe place as quickly as possible so she could crash. 

Glimmer paused and looked behind her to where the roar came from. It didn’t make any noise after that and she didn’t hear any thunderous footsteps. It probably wasn’t coming in their direction, but they couldn’t be too careful. She didn’t know if that thing ate meat or what, but she didn’t want to find out. Her gaze rose up to the warm-colored sky.

“Please find us soon…” She said softly to herself before hanging her head and following behind Catra.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING FOR DROWNING/SUFFOCATION AND DEPRESSIVE THOUGHTS

Catra hadn’t gotten a full night's rest in days, which was evident in the dark circles that hung under her eyes. She especially didn’t get any sleep when she was taken onto Prime’s ship. She never felt safe there, never safe enough to let her eyes close for a second too long. It’s weird how she finally got some shut-eye on an alien planet with giant monsters, but she didn’t have the energy to question it.

She still had the nightmares, though. Her nightmares didn’t have any rhyme or reason to them, they were just a barrage of flashbacks and horrible images that made her writhe and thrash in her sleep. Her eyes snapped open when her body started slipping from her position atop a tree branch. She jumped with a gasp to regain her balance, back arching as her claws dug into the wood to hold herself in place. She let herself relax and she plopped back down on her stomach once her pulse slowed a bit.

Other than the nightmares, last night’s sleep made her feel oddly rejuvenated. Her headache was gone now, so thankfully now Glimmer couldn’t make it anymore worse. Speaking of which, where was she? Catra looked down at the sorry attempt at a bed that Glimmer made out of leaves and grass, which was completely empty. Glimmer told Catra to sleep on the floor with her, in case Catra fell from the tree or whatever dumb reason she gave her.

Truthfully, Catra just wanted to get as much space to herself as she could. Just because the two of them were stuck here forever doesn’t mean Glimmer had to constantly be breathing down her neck. At least on the ship, Catra could just walk away if she wanted if she got tired of dealing with her. 

Sunlight shone through the canopy, casting Catra in warm red lighting that shone through the bright red leaves. She stretched out from her shoulders down to her tail, grunting loudly as she did so. She probably should have listened to Glimmer, this tree wasn’t very comfortable to sleep on. It wasn’t like she was going to tell her that, though. It took a bit of struggle for her to get down. Her bruises weren’t hurting as bad as they used to and any cuts she got were starting to close, but it still stung to move her arms and legs around too much.

“Ay, Sparkles?” She called once she made her way down, losing her footing a bit before holding her tail out to regain her balance. Her ears perked at the sound of what must have been two rocks scraping together. She hated that noise, it was so irritating—so Glimmer must be in that direction. She pushed through large leaves and bushes, stepping into a clearing where Glimmer sat on a fallen tree. “Hey! You didn’t hear me calling you?”

She walked over to Glimmer and tapped her shoulder, only for Glimmer to smack her hand away in annoyance. “I heard you,” She mumbled without turning to face her.

Catra pinned her ears and scoffed. What, was it her turn to be in a bad mood or something? “What’s the matter with you?”

Glimmer was sharpening a pointed rock tied to the end of a long stick, but she wasn’t really putting her heart into the task. Her shoulders were slumped and her expression was so sad and miserable. “I just—!” She curled her hands into fists and inhaled deeply to stop herself from snapping at Catra. “I just… I feel like I’m failing everyone back home…”

“How?”

Glimmer gave her a look, like the question she just asked was a stupid one. “Everyone at home is fighting against Prime and his bots, Bow and Adora are traveling the galaxy to find us, and I’m just sitting here… doing nothing.”

“What else are you supposed to do?” Catra shrugged indifferently. Angry Glimmer was really annoying, and making sarcastic comments was probably just going to make it worse. The sooner she got Glimmer back to being tolerable, the better. “Hey, you’re keeping yourself alive so Bow and Adora don’t come all this way just to find a pile of bones. That’s something, alright?”

“This is all my fault, though!” She cried. She looked up at the sky with a frown. “All this time I’m spending sitting here, I could be undoing everything I did wrong… I never got to make things right with them…” 

Catra’s tail stiffened and her jaw clenched up. A low growl rumbled in her chest as she let her gaze fall to the ground. Her own mood immediately began to tank after she said that. “Look, you can keep moping around or whatever.” She muttered as she started to walk away. “I’m gonna go get something to eat.”

“Wait!” Glimmer scrambled to her feet. Catra rolled her eyes before begrudgingly coming to a stop to let her catch up. She gave her spear a twirl. “See? You don’t have to complain about hunting for me anymore, now I can get my own stuff.”

“How’d you make that thing so fast?” Catra asked as she poked the sharp end of it.

“It took me hours,” Glimmer corrected. “You just slept for a while.”

Catra lay her ears back and her cheeks got warm. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You looked like you needed it,” Glimmer said. For some reason, Catra felt like that was some sort of jab at her unkempt appearance. She wouldn’t be wrong, though, but that still got on her nerves.

“Okay, well…” Catra mumbled as she rolled her eyes. “Anyway, just ‘cuz you’ve got that fancy stick doesn’t mean you can actually hit anything with it.”

“Wanna bet?” Glimmer cocked a brow at her. She raised the spear and launched it forward. It landed square in the center of a tree, one of the fat ones that had a lot of water in them. “See that? I have good aim.”

Catra snickered and clapped her hands together. “Wow, Sparkles, you really showed that unmoving tree who’s boss.”

Glimmer pulled the spear from the tree as they walked past it. “When I catch something big with this, you’re going to be eating your words, y’know that? And we’re gonna actually cook it this time, alright? I’m pretty sure I got a stomach ache from eating that thing raw yesterday.”

“You aren’t setting yourself up for success, Sparkles.” Catra said as she stepped over a tree root that was jutting out from the earth. “An actual good hunter would, y’know, keep quiet. Keeps their food from running away on ‘em.”

Glimmer opened her mouth to argue back, only to close it when she realized that Catra had a point. The silence didn’t last long, since she continued talking again, though this time she remembered to whisper. “Are you feeling better?” She asked. “Your arm.”

Catra looked down at her right arm. She moved it up and down and wiggled her fingers around a little. She winced and brought it down after moving it too much, but that was more than what she could do yesterday. She adjusted the sleeve so it covered her arm better. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Do you want me to look at it?” Glimmer asked as she reached out.

Catra drew back and pinned her ears back. “Don’t even think about it.”

Glimmer let out a huff. “Hopefully they have some medicine or something on Mara’s ship when they find us.”

“ _If_ they find us,” Catra snickered. Glimmer didn’t humor her with a response.

They both went quiet after that, which was what Catra was hoping for. They started to see more of the alien creatures that inhabited this planet… though Catra really wished they didn’t. These weird monkey-therapod things were the most common animals they came across, and they were the most cursed looking things she had ever laid eyes on. Every time she saw their large round eyes and creepy smiles peering at them, she wanted to hurl.

They saw some monkey-raptors racing through the trees on their hind legs, screeching and barking as they ran past them. Glimmer thought they were cute, Catra thought they were annoying. They also figured out what creature was making those guttural howling sounds throughout the night. It was these red or black-furred monkey-dinosaurs that would howl and cry out non stop at every little thing, and they got especially loud when Catra and Glimmer wandered into their territory.

This planet had really vibrantly colored habitats, they noticed. They had come from a tropical forest with red trees and grass, and they ended up in some humid blue swamps. The grass, the trees, the flowers were all varying shades of blue from cyan to navy. There were a lot of bugs here that the little monkey-raptors happily gobbled up as they buzzed and jumped around.

This sense of dread came over Catra as she trudged through the damp environment, it was so jarring how out of nowhere it came. She didn’t even have the energy to react when she stepped in a puddle of water and got mud all over her feet. It was strangely quiet in this area, which meant there was nothing to drown out the thoughts that started flooding her mind.

She thought about Adora. She tried so hard to not think about her, yet her face and her voice kept echoing in her mind. Glimmer was so confident that Adora and that other guy would come and save them, yet Catra was dreading that outcome more than if they never came in the first place. 

Adora hated her, she wasn’t going to want to see her hanging around with her new best friend after she came all this way. Why would she want to ever see Catra again after everything she’s done? She had one chance to redeem herself by getting Glimmer to the ship, but she messed that up, too. Adora would probably take Glimmer and leave her to rot on this planet. 

That was probably for the best. After everything she’s done, nobody back home would want to see her again. 

She didn’t care. Nobody cared. That’s fine. It doesn’t matter.

“Catra?” Glimmer snapped her fingers against her ears. “Hello, you can’t hear me?”

Catra flinched and blinked widely. “You were talking to me?” She said as she touched her ears to make sure they were still working right.

“Yeah,” Glimmer said with a groan before pointing somewhere. “I _said_ that I found some fresh tracks that we can follow.”

Catra looked off in the direction she pointed in. There were prints of a five-toed hoofed animal in the mud. “Oh,” Catra nodded. “Okay.”

“Let’s just get this over with,” Glimmer groaned as she followed the tracks, lacking any enthusiasm in her gait. “I feel so tired all of the sudden, don’t you?”

“I guess,” Catra mumbled with a shrug. She wanted to keep talking so she wouldn’t be left alone with those thoughts again. “It’s so quiet out here… I don’t even hear the Howlers.”

“Is that a bad sign?” Glimmer asked as she slowed down for Catra to catch up.

“I dunno,” Catra muttered. “Let’s just focus on tracking that thing down.”

The wet mud preserved the animal’s footprints pretty decently, making it easy for them to follow. Following them brightened Catra’s spirits for some reason like it was giving her something to do to distract herself from her thoughts. It wasn't much, but it was something. “What kind of messed-up animal do you think these tracks belong to?” Catra asked.

“Probably a two-headed tapir,” Glimmer giggled. She let out a sigh as she watched light-blue willow trees blowing in the breeze. “Perfuma would love it here. Y’know, Scorpia—” She noticed Catra’s tail stiffen and her ears pinned back, so she cut herself off before she upset her further.

 _Scorpia_. Hearing that name felt like a knife being driven right into her heart. Is she okay? Is she still alive? She only saw her once on the cameras on one of Primes bots, and she was fighting for her life. If she ended up hurt or worse… it’d all be her fault. Catra shouldn’t have snapped at her, she shouldn’t have let her go off on her own. 

The bleat of an animal snapped Catra out of her daze again. As they scaled a hill, they found their target below them stuck in the mud, crying out as they struggled to stand. It was short and stocky like a dwarf pony, with four beady black eyes and a crown of about five horns on its head. Their long prehensile tail was desperately reaching out behind them for something to grab onto and help free themselves. 

“There it is,” Glimmer announced triumphantly. She let out an exhausted sigh like she had just finished running a marathon. She gave the creature a pitiful frown. “Aw, it’s stuck.”

“Don’t get all gushy, Sparkles.” Catra said as she jumped down, landing knee-deep into the mud. It was almost calling her in a way. She looked behind her, rolling her eyes at Glimmer looking more hesitant to jump in after her. “Well? C’mon, help me get it out.”

She wasn’t sure what she landed in, but it probably wasn’t mud like she thought it was. It was really watery and even kind of hot, and she felt it moving around her like it was almost breathing. Her body felt so heavy, it was hard to lift her legs and move forward. She quickly tired herself out and she stopped moving, panting heavily to catch her breath. 

“ _Catra_!” Glimmer’s scream sounded so panicked and desperate, yet Catra was so slow to react. She turned her head and looked up at her with drooping eyes. “Catra, that’s a tar pit! You’re sinking, get out of there!”

She blinked and looked down. “Oh,” was all that she could say in reaction to her body slowly lowering into the mud. She was sinking. Oh well, she had it coming.

Glimmer’s nails dug into her scalp as she desperately looked around for something to pull Catra out with. Catra didn’t know why she was trying so hard. She deserved this. She was almost waist-deep, it was too late for her now. Everything wrong in the universe was because of her. Why should she break free from the tar pit? She didn’t deserve to. She deserved whatever came to her when she submerged.

She was so tired, but the tar was so warm.

She felt a sharp jab in her shoulder. She blinked and looked up. Glimmer found a long stick and was waving it in front of her, trying to get as close to her as she could without touching the tar. “Catra, grab on!”

She shook her head slowly. “No…” She said in a quiet voice. “Leave me here.”

Tears started streaming down Glimmer’s cheeks. “No!” She screamed, sharply jabbing Catra’s arm again to urge her to grab on. “I’m not leaving you, don’t say that!” Catra met Glimmer’s gaze, and her ears pinned back as guilt began to tug at her chest. “Catra, please grab on! I don’t want to be alone!”

Her ears lay flat against her head and her gaze softened. Seeing Glimmer like that hurt more than she expected it to. Catra blinked and looked down at the tar as it was slowly climbing up to her stomach. That’s right, Glimmer would be by herself after this. She didn’t think of that. She kind of did, she mostly assumed she was doing Glimmer a favor. Only now did it hit her that she’d be _alone_. That must be terrifying, to be stuck on this alien planet all alone. There was no way she’d survive long without Catra around.

“Catra, look at me!” She pleaded. Catra obeyed, yet she kept glancing down at the tar. “We’re going home together, okay? You’re not going to sink, you’re going to be okay.”

She looked down at her hands, watching as they quivered. “I’m…” It was so exhausting to talk. What was she even trying to say?

Catra’s hands balled into a fist as some of her strength had returned to her. She grabbed onto the stick, and Glimmer immediately began pulling her in. The tar was fighting to keep Catra in, but Glimmer proved to be much stronger. Catra started helping out by kicking once her legs were freed up some more.

She might have ruined things forever with Adora and Scorpia, and Entrapta too. But Glimmer was her last chance to prove that she could make things right in her life, and she wasn’t going to go before she could get that chance.

Once she got dragged to solid land, Glimmer pulled her in and wrapped her into a tight hug, sobbing into her collarbone. Catra lay on top of her, eyes wide as she processed what had just happened. It was only then that she actually realized that she almost died, like the weight of what just happened finally hit her. 

She raised a hand and awkwardly patted Glimmer’s head. “Hey, hey, I’m fine.” She said. If she moved so much as an inch, Glimmer would hold her tighter out of fear that Catra would slip away from her again.

“Don’t do that!” She heard Glimmer shout in a muffled voice. “I thought I was going to lose you!”

Catra chuckled. “Aw, you got scared?”

“Can you not joke about this right now?”

“Sorry.” Catra tried to get up, but Glimmer squeezed her tight again. She probably wasn’t going to be moving anytime soon. 

Glimmer loosened her hold around her and she slowly looked up to look Catra in the eyes. “What happened?” She asked in a quivering voice. Her chest bounced with a hiccup every now and again. “Why weren’t you…?”

Catra blinked and averted her gaze. “I don’t know…” She admitted. “I don’t know what happened…”

Glimmer sighed and stood up, taking Catra’s arm and bringing her up with her. “Let’s… get out of this place.” She said, letting Catra lean on her as they walked away.

Catra hung her head as they walked together. “Hey, um… Sparkles?” It didn’t feel right calling her that dumb nickname right now. Glimmer perked her ears. “You… were you actually, like, worried for me or…?”

“Of course I was,” Glimmer shoved her as punishment for asking such a stupid question. “I lost everything else, I’m not going to lose you, too.”

Catra blinked in disbelief at what she was hearing. Was she lying? Was she just saying that to be nice? Her instincts were telling her yes, but a louder part of her knew that wasn’t the case. “Thank you…” She said nervously. “For… for saving me.”

Glimmer smiled at her. “That’s what friends do, Catra.”

“We’re friends?” She felt goofy for saying that, but it still felt weird to hear. After everything she did, despite everything wrong in the world, Catra still has a friend. That was possible? Did she deserve that?

“Obviously!” Glimmer playfully elbowed her. “You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.”

* * *

The yellow grasslands were wide and open, with no forests to hide the stars. And most importantly: It was dry. No freezing water to wade through or tar to get stuck in. The moment Catra found a body of water, she dove inside and started washing off all that gross swamp off of her. It was hard, though. She really had to scrape at some of the tar that hardened on her skin, and it actually kind of hurt to get off. She had gotten so dirty these past few days, she didn’t care. She just wanted to be clean right now.

She followed the light of the fire that Glimmer started back to camp. She felt so much better now that they were out of that swamp, and now that she wasn’t picking dirt from under her nails. Despite hours ago feeling so miserable and weighed down by guilt and sadness, now she just felt… fine. She didn’t know what was going on with this planet, but she and Glimmer mutually agreed to not go back to the blue swamp ever again.

Catra got to the top of the hill and froze in place when she and Glimmer’s gazes met. She made the fire a few feet away from a tree in the center of the clearing. Roasting on top of the flames was a large bird the size of a turkey that Glimmer had caught. It was definitely bigger than the reptile that Catra caught yesterday, so she won the bet.

Catra forgot to rehearse in her head what she was supposed to say when she saw Glimmer again. What words was she supposed to say? Would ‘sorry’ cut it? She awkwardly stood there, her ears laying out as her gaze fell to the ground. “Um…” She began as she scratched behind her ear. “I was just… I…”

Glimmer smiled and patted the space beside her. “Come sit,” She said.

Catra hesitated for a moment. She shrunk low to the ground, her ears pinned back as she walked over, sitting on the ground with her knees tucked up to her chest. She looked at the fire, too ashamed to look Glimmer in the eye. “I just wanted to say… I’m sorry.” She said.

“For what?” Glimmer asked as she slowly rotated the bird over the fire. “The tar pits?” Catra nodded slightly. Glimmer reached over and put an arm around Catra. “We’re both safe, that’s all that mattered.”

Catra’s tail thumped against the ground and she felt her heart thumping hard in her chest. She hoped Glimmer didn’t feel how warm she got. She wasn’t really sure what else to say to that, so she just awkwardly leaned into the embrace. She let her eyes flutter shut for a moment before opening them again when Glimmer started laughing.

“Are you seriously purring?” She said through laughter.

Catra’s tail fluffed up and she pinned her ears back. “No, I… It’s a reflex! I don’t— _Shut up_!” She hissed as she turned around so her back was facing Glimmer, her tail sweeping the grass as Glimmer continued giggling at Catra’s expense.

Glimmer’s fit of laughter ceased and she went back to spinning the meat over the flame. The fur on her tail smoothed and she picked her head back up. “Hey, um… Sparkles?” She said. “That feeling you mentioned before, about feeling like you aren’t doing enough… that you didn’t do enough to make things right… how do you make it go away?”

Glimmer took a moment to think, not prepared to answer a question like that. She looked up at the sky, the starry night sky gazing back down at her. “It doesn’t,” She admitted. She tossed another hunk of wood into the fire to keep it from shrinking. “I just realized that those thoughts… they weren’t helpful to me. Thinking about what I could have done, what I should have done, all it’d do was make me miserable. Like I was…”

“Sinking in tar?” Catra finished with a sarcastic tone.

Glimmer rolled her eyes at her. “That’s one way to put it, sure.” She looked at the fire and her smirk slowly fell. “There’s a lot I wished I could have done… the way I treated Bow and Adora was just awful. I can wish that I could go back in time and fix it all I want, but I can’t. All I can hope for is that one day I can see them again and make things right with them.”

Catra looked down at her hand, watching her claws retreat back into their sheath. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do when Adora comes for us…” She said. “Years of bitterness and anger… how am I supposed to fix all of that?”

Glimmer shrugged. “With love?”

“It’s not that easy…” Catra let out a breathy chuckle and she shook her head. “I don’t think someone like me really deserves love.”

Glimmer looked almost offended that Catra would even say that. “Yeah, it isn’t easy.” Catra flinched when Glimmer’s hand reached out to touch hers. “It’s going to take work. Like, a _lot_ of work. But if you’re willing to put that work in, you deserve all the love in the world.”

Catra’s mouth hung agape at those words. It was so simple and so obvious, yet hearing them felt like a weight was lifted from her chest finally allowing her to breathe. She looked Glimmer in the eyes, and she saw nothing but sincerity in her dazzling gaze. Catra managed a smile, a warm and genuine one. When was the last time she did that?

“Thank you,” She breathed.

It was a calm, peaceful quiet between them now. Glimmer had taken the bird off of the flame, and it was now sizzling as it became a golden brown color. The bird’s meat didn’t really have any flavor to it, but it was still the best thing Catra ate in what felt like eons. She couldn’t take her eyes off Glimmer as she was stargazing. She was really concentrated as she stared up at those shiny dots in the sky, like the task required her full attention.

“Recognize any constellations?” Catra asked, breaking the silence between them.

Glimmer flinched like she was just snapped out of a daze. “No, these stars are different from Etheria.” She said, longing in her voice. She blinked and cocked a brow at her. “You know about constellations? Hm, I didn’t take you for the stargazing type.”

Catra shrugged. “Adora always told me about pictures in the stars, but I could never see them. Like, they’re just a bunch of dots, yet she always said they’re a dog or something.”

“You gotta use your imagination,” Glimmer insisted. She knelt beside her so they were at eye-level and she pointed up to the sky. “See those four stars there? They can be a mouse or something.”

“Are you saying that because I’m a cat?”

“What? No!” Glimmer playfully punched her side. “I’m saying it because that string of stars there looks like a little mouse tail.”

Catra chuckled. “I know, I’m messing with you.” She yawned and lay her head down on her arms. “Show me another one.”

“Let’s see…” Glimmer carefully scanned the sky for one that’d be easy for Catra to see. She gasped and tapped Catra’s side to get her attention when she found one. “Those stars over there, you see? Don’t they look like a swan?”

Glimmer was pointing, but Catra couldn’t tell which clump of white dots she was pointing to out of the sea of white dots. But Glimmer sounded so excited about her find, she didn’t want to ruin that for her. She smiled and nodded. “I see it, Sparkles.” She said through a yawn. “It looks great.”

Glimmer looked down at Catra as her eyes were starting to close. “Are you even looking?”

“I am, I am.” Catra insisted with a wave of her hand. “Go on, tell me another one.”

“It’s fine, I’m tired anyway.” Glimmer started kicking dirt over the fire to put it out. Once it got small, she sat back down to just wait for it to die out on its own. She was surprised to see Catra pawing at a patch of grass to turn it into a little nest. “Aren’t you gonna sleep in a tree? I thought that’s where you liked to sleep?”

Catra blinked up at her and shrugged. “Ah, well… it’s not as comfortable as it looks.”

Glimmer smiled softly. “Alright then. Goodnight, I guess.”

Catra stretched out before curling into a tight ball, wrapping herself with her tail as she tucked her face into her arm. “Goodnight.”


	3. Chapter 3

A finger kept jabbing Glimmer in the nose until her eyes twitched open. She looked up at Catra, who was hovering over her with her head cocked. “Really?” Glimmer rolled on her back and yawned. “I was having a good dream.”

“Oops,” Catra said, lacking any guilt in her voice. She reached behind her and held up a large egg the size of a salad bowl. She looked smug as she held it up, proud of her find. “I got breakfast.”

Glimmer’s eyes shot wide. “That thing’s huge! Where’d you get it?”

“Yeah, that’s why I only got one,” Catra said.

Glimmer gave the eggshell a knock. “How are we gonna cook it?”

Catra blinked. “...Cook it? Just crack it open and eat it like this, why do we have to cook everything?”

Glimmer wrinkled her nose at her. “Catra, I’m not going to keep getting stomach aches from eating your raw food.”

Catra shrugged and turned away from her. “Fine, then you can starve.”

Catra’s claws broke into the shell and she peeled it open, unleashing a powerfully foul odor into the air that made Glimmer gag. Catra cringed and drew back a bit, but that didn’t stop her from slurping loudly at the yolk inside like it was soup. Glimmer rolled her eyes at her as she stood up and walked some feet away to put some distance from that awful smell. She took the time to stretch her limbs and back out while Catra ate. Sleeping on the ground and not a bed was probably doing something to her back, and she couldn’t tell yet if it was a good thing.

Catra turned to face her, licking yolk from her teeth. “There’s some left, you sure you’re too chicken to have a taste?”

Glimmer scrunched her face up in disgust. She really didn’t want to have to eat that nasty thing, but she reminded herself that in her situation she didn’t have the privilege to pick and choose her meals. But did that mean she had to eat gross alien bird eggs? But she was probably going to have to get used to this, wasn’t she? After all, they’ll never know when they’ll find food again.

“Fine, give it!” Glimmer cried in defeat, pinching her nose before taking the egg from her. She heard Catra snickering as she lifted the eggshell to her lips and let the yolk slide in her mouth. She only had a sip, yet that alone was too much for her. She cringed in disgust as the slimy yolk slid down her tongue. “ _ Eugh _ ! Okay, okay, that’s enough!”

Catra rolled on her back and held her chest as she erupted in laughter. “You should have seen your face!” She exclaimed as she pointed a finger at her. “You’re such a wimp, it wasn’t that bad.” She blinked. “So are you gonna finish that?”

“That was disgusting!” Glimmer croaked as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She shoved the egg back into Catra’s hands and she eagerly lapped up the remains. “How did you finish all that up so quickly? That was the worst thing I’ve ever tasted!”

Catra shrugged as some yolk dripped from her chin. “Hey, you’re the one missing out on good protein, Sparkles.” She kicked the empty eggshell away once she was done. With a stretch of her back, she stood up and scanned the area around them. “Alright, let’s keep moving.”

“Why?” Glimmer asked, letting out a loud groan in protest. “We’ve been walking forever, can’t we just rest for a little while?”

“We slept all night, why do we need more rest?” Catra put her hands on her hips as her tail swished impatiently. 

“I mean, c’mon.” Glimmer shrugged. “Yesterday was kind of a lot, let’s just take some time to breathe. I mean, look around! It’s not like there’s anything chasing us or pits to sink into, let’s just take a few hours to just chill, alright?”

“ _ Fine _ .” Catra rolled on her back and kicked her heads up, resting her arms behind her head and looked up at the sky. Her foot was impatiently bouncing as her tail swept the dry ground beneath her.

Glimmer was still cringing at the smell of egg that was still emanating from the empty eggshell. “Where did you even find that?” She said as she pointed a finger towards it. She picked up her sword and scooped up the eggshell, giving it a swing as she launched the eggshell far away from them. She let out a sigh in relief when the smell was finally far away from her.

“I didn’t walk too far,” Catra said with a humble shrug. “I wanted to, like, make it up to you somehow. Y’know, from yesterday.”

“I told you it’s not your fault, Catra.” Glimmer insisted. “But thank you, I guess… even though I didn’t really eat it. Are you sure mama bird won’t get mad you ate one of her babies?”

Catra shrugged indifferently. “Well, she shouldn’t have left her eggs out in the open. Stupid bird.” 

“Hey, don’t be mean to the bird!” Glimmer laughed as she scoldingly threw a pebble at Catra.

“Or what, Sparkles?” Catra gave Glimmer a smirk. “She’s gonna get her feelings hurt?”

“She might,” Glimmer shrugged. “We don’t know how smart these animals are. Try talking to the howler-raptors, you two have a lot in common.”

Catra scrunched her nose up in offense. “How?”

“You’re both furry and grouchy, that’s how.” She poked Catra’s nose, snickering in amusement as Catra swatted her away with her hands. “Wanna play that game we made on the ship? Just to pass the time?”

“Sure. You go first.”

During their time on Prime’s ship, they spent it being sad and afraid. They tried talking about home to lift their spirits, but that just made both of them miss it even more. Catra was the one that came up with a quick game for them to play on the other side of Glimmer’s cell. She said that she and Adora played it when they were kids, but they sort of stopped doing it as they became older.

Both of them held out a finger on each hand. Glimmer tapped one of Catra’s fingers, and she pulled out another finger. Catra tapped Glimmer’s finger with the hand holding two fingers. Three fingers were raised on Glimmer’s hand, and she quickly retaliated and tapped Catra back on the same hand. Catra only raised four fingers instead of five and kept her hand up.

“Uh uh, that one’s out.” Glimmer pointed out as she tapped her hand. “C’mon, don’t be cheating.”

Catra rolled her eyes at being caught and she put the hand down. “You’re no fun, y’know that?” Glimmer raised a hand. “Ah ah, it’s my turn.”

Catra poked Glimmer’s hand with her opposite finger, giving Glimmer four fingers on her hand. Glimmer laughed triumphantly as she gently smacked Catra’s last hand out of the way. “I win! Man, you are bad at this game.”

Catra’s ears pinned back sharply as she looked past her. “Sparkles, lower your voice.” She said in a whisper.

“C’mon, you don’t have to be a sore loser about it.”

“I’m serious!” Catra hissed, and only then did Glimmer understand and obediently fall silent.

She turned around to see what she was looking at, gasping at the sight of a large bird entering the clearing. Their feathers were as red as red could get. They had massive feet and thick legs that carried their large body around. They were so large they could probably pick up a person in their beaks and carry them effortlessly. With the way their head was shaped, it made them look like they had angry eyes as their heads cocked around scanning the clearing of yellow grass. 

“Catra…?” Glimmer whispered as panic started to set in. She raised a quivering hand and pointed at the birds as their angry red eyes stared their way. They started pawing at the dirt like a bull ready to charge with their large gray talons. “Is that…?”

Catra slowly stood up, making sure not to move too fast so as to not startle the bird. “Mama bird? Yes, I… I think that’s her.”

“What do we do?” Glimmer whispered over her shoulder. Neither of them took their eyes off the bird for a second, Glimmer was almost too paranoid to even blink. The bird sniffed the air and clicked their large black hook-shaped beak before letting out a deep hiss.

“Grab the spear,” Catra whispered.

Glimmer slowly lowered herself towards the spear, her muscles tensing up and her heart pounding every step closer to her the bird got. Its feathers ruffled to make itself appear larger than it already was, successfully intimidating Glimmer and Catra. She rose quicker once she gripped the spear in her hand. She heard Catra taking a few steps back to get out of her way.  _ Almost… almost… _

_ Now. _ She launched the spear forward and watched as it flew in the air towards the giant bird. The bird’s neck twisted around, catching the spear mid-air in its beak. Catra and Glimmer’s eyes both widened as they watched in disbelief. The bird made a growling sound as they effortlessly snapped the spear in their beak like it was a toothpick. They flapped their small wings and reared their head out, letting out a high-pitched shriek before charging at them.

“Run!” Catra grabbed Glimmer’s arm and sprinted off in the opposite direction, releasing her hold once the two of them started picking up some speed. Catra was so desperate to get away, she started running on all fours and quickly outpaced Glimmer.

“Why did you steal her egg?” Glimmer shouted as she was booking it after her. She felt the earth shaking from the heavy footsteps of the bird as it was quickly gaining up on them. “You could have picked fruits or something, but  _ nooo _ you had to steal from an angry meat-eating bird!”

“Like I said, that  _ stupid bird _ shouldn’t have left their eggs out in the open!” Catra shouted, throwing the insult over her shoulder at the bird that was pursuing them. “Why is it even chasing us? I already ate your kid, lady! What, you want me to barf him back up?”

“Stop being rude, you’re making her more mad!” Glimmer let out a shriek as she felt the bird’s footsteps growing closer and closer. “This thing's fast, how are we gonna lose it?”

“Quit talking, just keep running!”

The sharp end of the bird’s beak hooked into Glimmer’s hair and lifted her up off the ground. She yelped in pain and desperately attempted to wriggle free, which only made the tugging at her scalp more painful. “ _ Catra _ ! Catra, help me!”

Catra skidded to halt and turned on her heels, immediately running back and charging at the bird. The bird raised its wings and enlarged its feathers as a warning, but Catra ignored it and jumped right onto it. She jumped into the bird’s back, her claws ripping through feathers and digging into the skin. The bird immediately dropped Glimmer, causing her to yell until she landed with a heavy thud on her side. 

Glimmer sharply inhaled through her teeth as she held the sore spot that she landed on. Nothing was probably broken, but  _ man _ did that hurt after the height she fell from. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the pain, and looked over at Catra as she wrestled with the bird. She was on the back of its head now, her claws ripping into it as the bird swung its head around to try and shake her off.

The bird let out a shriek before giving one last effort to shake off its attacker. It fell on its back, but Catra quickly jumped off before getting crushed beneath its weight. She sprinted back over to Glimmer, standing in front of her defensively as she bristled the fur on her tail and hissed loudly. Glimmer saw her muscles flexing under her clothes, bunched up in preparation for another attack.

The bird squawked as it pushed itself to its feet. It turned to face them and let out another shriek, only to fall silent and look up at the sky. Its head twitched before it turned around and bolted from the scene.

Catra took a few heavy breaths before letting her muscles relax and her fur to smooth out. She started snickering and raised her chin high. “ _ Ha _ ! That big stupid bird’s scared of me!” She looked over at Glimmer, gasping when she saw her clutching her side. “Are you okay? Did it hurt you?”

“No, it’s not that bad.” Glimmer assured with a weak smile as Catra examined her for any serious wounds. She turned her gaze up to the sky, which was now covered in thick clouds. “Not to ruin your confidence, but I don’t think that bird was running from you.”

Catra narrowed her eyes in a puzzled expression before looking up at the sky to see what she was talking about. “What?” She exclaimed as she jumped back in surprise. “Okay, those clouds weren’t there a minute ago. What is with this planet?”

“I don’t know,” Glimmer said nervously. “But I have a feeling the rain on this planet isn’t…  _ normal _ rain. We should find shelter.”

“Oh, it’s almost like I said we should have kept moving.” Catra teased before standing beside her. “C’mon, you can lean on me.”

“I’ll be fine,” Glimmer said, but she clung to Catra’s arm anyway. “C’mon, I’m tougher than I look. I figured you of all people would know that.”

“Yeah, you’re  _ so _ tough.” Catra rolled her eyes and smirked. “Is that why that giant chicken just picked you up like it was nothing and you were squirming around like a worm?”

“Okay, I’m not tougher than a giant bird, Catra.” Glimmer rolled her eyes. She cocked a brow to Catra, which made her ears go flat. “And what about you, huh? Always have to be the hero, huh?”

Catra grumbled and looked away. “Don’t throw my words back at me. This is different from your dumb princess crap.”

“Oh yeah? How?”

“Well, I—!” Catra glared at her. “I should call that bird back to eat you.”

Glimmer giggled and squeezed Catra’s arm tighter as the environment around them transitioned from yellow to orange.

There were a lot of pleasant-smelling fruits and berries in this small area of land that transitions the yellow plains to the red forest. Glimmer made a note to come back here for food once the storm blew over. Hopefully, no angry birds would try and attack them again if they ate from here. The smells here made both of them relax more, it was the exact opposite of the feeling they got from that blue swamp.

There were a lot of those monkey-dinosaurs in the red forests, but the thick canopy would hopefully shelter them from the rain. They weren’t really on this planet for long, but something about this forest made Glimmer feel nostalgic somehow. She looked over at Catra, wondering if she was thinking the same thing. She just had her normal resting face that made her look kind of angry.

Catra’s pupils shifted her way, catching Glimmer staring at her for a second too long. Glimmer flinched and her eyes darted around, trying to quickly string together something to say to make herself look less weird. “Uh… remember this place?” She nervously chuckled. “Seems like only yesterday we were at each other’s throats.”

“Wanna go back to that?” Catra gave her a smirk. 

Glimmer shrugged. “Nah, I think Soft Catra is better than Moody Catra.”

“ _ What _ !” Catra’s tail bristled up in offense. “You—I am  _ not _ soft! I just took on a giant bird by myself, you think that’s soft?”

“Okay, but you did it to protect me.” Glimmer said smugly as she crossed her arms. “And you got all scared when you thought I was hurt. Oh, do you want me to bring up that time you were purring? Yeah, I think that’s soft.”

Catra’s tail getting fluffy and her cheeks becoming red wasn’t helping her case. “I wasn’t doing it to protect  _ you _ , I didn’t want to get eaten by that stupid bird! And I wasn’t purring, I said it was a reflex! I was—I was growling!  _ Not _ … why am I even arguing with you?”

“What’d I say about the tough guy act, Catra?” Glimmer giggled as she playfully nudged her with her shoulder, causing Catra’s tail to do that cute thing when it swishes and gets poofy when she gets all flustered. “C’mon, you can just say it.”

Catra pinned her ears back. “Well, I—” She turned away and started walking ahead of her. “You’re so annoying, you know that?”

“I know,” Glimmer beamed as she skipped over to her. 

They only walked a few yards when they came to a sudden stop. Something flew down from the sky and landed in front of them, making a wet  _ squish _ sound. They blinked in confusion and looked down, seeing a ball of transparent slime on the ground. Catra looked up and growled, assuming one of the monkeys spat at them or something. Another glob of slime landed on a tree next to Glimmer.

“What is this stuff?” Glimmer said in a tone of disgust as she reached out to it with her fingers.

Catra smacked her hand away before she could touch it. “What are you doing? Don’t touch it.”

A glob of slime landed on Catra’s arm, causing her to yelp in surprise. Despite what she just told Glimmer, she touched the slime with her fingers to pick it up and pull it off. Her eyes became wide in panic, struggling to free her fingers from the sticky prison. She wiggled her fingers and thrust her arm back, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Uh… Sparkles?” She said in a wavering voice. They both looked up, watching as they saw the shadow of the slime raining down on the canopy. “Sparkles, we gotta find cover now! This thing’s like glue!”

Glimmer ran ahead of Catra, leading her through the forest and pushing away any branches and leaves for her. She shrieked when some slime rain landed on her thigh. It was surprisingly cold, and it kind of hurt since it was hurling down at her from the sky. Another one landed on her foot, but her boot luckily shielded her from the impact. A pack of monkey-raptors screeched as they raced across the forest floor. One stepped on slime on the ground and was left behind as its pack ran off without them as they stood stuck to the surface like a bug in a trap.

She emerged from between two trees and was greeted with the mouth of a cave. Water pooled outside the mouth of a cave, the water rippling as the slime fell into it from the sky. There weren’t any trees covering the area, so she and Catra had to book it. She looked behind her, making sure to grab her firm bicep and keep from touching the sticky slime on her forearm.

“C’mon!” She shouted, yanking her on and running through the water. She heard Catra yowl in protest as they splashed through the pool, but she tried to focus only on getting both of them into the cave. A glob of slime struck Glimmer right on the collarbone. Okay, it actually hurt that time. 

They both threw themselves into the cave, falling into a small puddle that formed on the smooth rocky surface of the cave floor. They arrived just in time, as the slime rain was starting to pick up outside. Glimmer sighed in relief and sat up, water dripping from her as she did so. She glanced down at her boot, blinking in surprise as the slime slid off cleanly after her foot fell into the puddle.

“Oh! Catra, look!” She said. She scooped up water in her hand and threw it onto her collarbone, shuddering at the weird sensation as the cold slime slid down her chest and onto the ground. “It comes off with water!”

“Well, aren’t we lucky?” She mumbled sarcastically as Glimmer cupped some water and poured it on Catra’s hand. She wiggled her fingers free once the slime slid down her arm. 

“Oh, you got some on your sleeve.” Glimmer said as she pointed to it.

Catra looked down at her sleeve. It had been ripped, torn, and stained. Catra pinched the sleeve and slid it down her arm until it came off. Glimmer almost winced at the sight that lay beneath it. Her right arm was almost completely blue from bruises and covered in scratches and scars that were both old and new. It really wasn’t a pretty sight to look at.

“Aw jeez, I wish I had medicine for that.” Glimmer frowned.

“It’s fine,” Catra dismissed. Her eye scanned the wide cave around them, her ears perking as she listened around. “I don’t hear anything else here. I guess we can stay here for a while.”

“Wanna go look round?” Glimmer asked eagerly, nodding to a tunnel leading into darkness. Catra gave her a look. “Fine, you stay but I’ll go look.”

Catra rolled her eyes and got up. It didn’t take much to convince her, it seemed. “Fine, I’ll go with you. Only because you can’t see in the dark.”

The sound of water dripping from stalactites echoed throughout the caves, providing their only source of sound as the rainfall grew fainter and fainter. It was kind of a nice ambiance. There weren’t howling beasts or screeching birds, just gentle droplets of water. It was definitely a welcomed change, and Catra definitely appreciated the silence. They had to be careful where they stepped, though. They had to watch their heads for stalactites and watch their feet to keep from slipping.

Catra’s ears perked. “I hear water that way,” She nodded over to another tunnel. Hopefully, the cave water would be fresh and pure and not have slime or weird alien bugs swimming around inside it.

Glimmer took Catra’s hand and they both held the walls with their opposite hands for balance. They must have gone quite deep into the cave, but not nearly deep enough for them to lose any oxygen. 

They stepped down and were met with a vast pool of water that lay almost completely still. A droplet of water fell from a stalactite and landed with an echo on the water, causing the water to ripple. To Glimmer’s amazement, the water glowed slightly, a bright pink color when the surface of the water was agitated. A small brown fish swam along the bottom, leaving a trail of pink as it moved along. Glimmer knelt down, raising a finger and poking the water. She drew her hand back when the water glowed pink at her touch.

“Catra, do you see this?” She giggled, moving her hand back and forth in the water and splashed it around, her grin growing wider as the water glowed brighter. “Look, it’s all glowy!”

Catra’s pupils became wide at the sight of the bright and shiny colors, yet she still had an indifferent look on her face. “Just when I thought something on this planet would be normal.” She muttered. She turned and gestured for Glimmer to follow. “C’mon, let’s keep looking down that other way.”

“What? Aw, c’mon, Catra!” Glimmer insisted. “Let’s go swimming! Wouldn’t it be cool?”

Catra rolled her eyes and knelt down, having learned now that Glimmer was just as stubborn as she was. “You can, I’ll stay here.”

“Aw, don’t be like that!” Glimmer pouted at her. “You still have some slime in your hair, don’t you wanna get it out?” Catra narrowed her eyes at her. It seemed she was going to need more convincing than that. Glimmer shrugged and strolled over to the water. “Nevermind, I forgot.”

Catra perked an ear. “Forgot what?”

“That you’re soft now,” Glimmer smirked. “I mean, a little water like this would have been nothing for the tough Horde leader that I remember. But nah, it’s fine. You can stay back if you want.”

Glimmer didn’t wait to see what reaction she got out of Catra for saying that. She carefully lowered herself into the cool water, already making it glow brightly as she stepped inside. Now that she could see the bottom, it was actually deeper than she expected. She had to keep kicking her legs to keep herself afloat, which made the water around her to glow more.

Just when she was about to turn around, She heard footsteps followed by a loud crashing sound. She raised her hands to cover her eyes from the glowy water being splashed everywhere. She blinked her eyes open, covering her mouth but failing to restrain the giggle that escaped her. Catra was doggy-paddling through the water, desperately kicking and sticking her neck out to keep her head above the water.

Glimmer swam back, stopping when she felt something solid beneath her feet. “Catra, come here.” She said through her fit of giggles at Catra’s expense. Catra splashed her way over to Glimmer. Despite all of the kicking she was doing, she wasn’t really moving that fast.

She clambered over to Glimmer, wrapping her arms around her neck and holding on for dear life. Glimmer felt her quivering like a leaf and her teeth rattling behind closed lips. “You didn’t tell me the water was  _ freezing _ ! I can’t even touch the ground!”

Glimmer let out a wince. “Catra? Your claws?”

Catra blinked before looking down at her hands. Her muscles tensed up, she didn’t realize her claws were unsheathed. They weren’t digging into Glimmer’s back, but they were definitely pinching enough for it to hurt. “Sorry,” She whimpered.

“It’s fine,” Glimmer chuckled. “You are a  _ bad _ swimmer, you know that? You need to work on your form.”

Catra grumbled. “I’m gonna scratch you again.”

Glimmer laughed and pulled her closer. “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”

Catra stiffened at the gesture and her eyes popped wide. Her ears cutely swiveled back as she looked away. She quickly became distracted by a fish that was swimming beneath them, her pupils growing wide as she made a low chirping sound. She felt Catra wiggle a bit, and she held onto her tighter in case she decided to pounce after the fish. Glimmer really didn’t want to dive after her and have to play lifeguard right now.

All of Catra’s thrashing made the water glow bright pink, the warm colors reflecting against the surface of the cave walls. It was such a pretty and soft color. She quickly calmed down after adjusting to the water more, but she was still a bit tense. She could feel her pulse through her chest. Her heart was pounding so hard it’d probably crack a rib at this rate.

“Do you think you can swim on your own now?” Glimmer asked as she loosened her hold on her.

Catra yelped and pulled her back in. “No, no no, absolutely not.” She stammered, Glimmer feeling her pulse quicken again.

Glimmer burst out laughing again, her voice echoing against the walls. “If this was you trying to prove that you aren’t soft, it’s not working.”

“Sh-shut up,” Catra mumbled. Glimmer was surprised that she didn’t really make an effort to argue this time.

“Your tail is doing the thing again.”

“What thing?” Catra looked behind her. Her tail was underwater, wiggling back and forth and stirring up more bright colors. She grabbed the base of her tail to keep it still, yet its tip kept wiggling in protest. She gave up and let it go, turning back to Glimmer and raising her brow. “What? Why’re you lookin’ at me like that?”

Catra looked different in this lighting. She was always in the shadows, or with dark reds and greens shining against her. She never saw Catra in soft pink lighting like this. Pink made her look so gentle and harmless, especially compared to how she knew her for three entire years. It looked good on her, especially with how it shone gently on her muscles as water beaded on her skin.

They both stared at each other in a long silence, the only sound being the gentle echo of water dripping into the glowing pool. Glimmer closed her eyes for a moment, finding it hard to look at anything but Catra with her eyes opened. When did she start feeling this way for Catra? When did it start? Was it… a bad thing to think about her in the way that she was? Was it wrong to stare at her lips wishing they were touching hers?

This feeling had been creeping up on her for a while now like an ominous storm cloud over her head. She assumed the best course of action was to ignore it. It wasn’t real, she kept telling herself. She was just lonely and missing her friends, and maybe the planet was just messing with her emotions. That’s it, that’s all it was. She had to keep telling herself that whenever she thought they were going to be anything other than prisoners together, be it on a ship or on a foreign planet.

Glimmer let her eyes slowly open. Catra was still there in her arms and gazing back down at her. Catra definitely was feeling something similar back, and Glimmer wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. What did it mean then, if these feelings were mutual? Did that make them more real, more something that carried actual weight and not a spur of the moment thing born from loneliness and impulsiveness?

It would probably be stupid to kiss her right now, right? Even though that’s all she could think about? They were fighting each other for three years, how could they flip on a dime so fast? Was it weird to want her this way after everything they’ve been through… was it  _ bad _ ? 

She could tell Catra was going through that same internal battle by the way her ears twitched and her gaze turned down. Their gazes would occasionally meet, and for a moment they’d think that they should. Then they were reminded of everything that got them in this position in the first place, and they’d turn their gaze away and feel as though they shouldn’t.

_ There’s no one else here but us _ , Glimmer thought to herself, which made her feel more at ease. That’s right, it was just them two. A voice in her head was growing louder, telling her to seize the moment before it slipped from her grasp. There could be a time in the future where she’d wish she did what her heart was telling her, maybe there wouldn’t be. There was only one way to find out.

A hand moved up to Catra’s neck and she gently guided her head so they were facing each other. The second their eyes locked again, they knew what was about to happen. Catra’s breathing got more rapid, and her tail was swishing again under the water stirring up more glowing lights. Glimmer hesitated, in case she read her wrong and was pushing for something she didn’t want. But Catra lowered her eyes and nodded.

They leaned into each other slowly, both of them holding their breaths as their lips touched for the first time. Initially, they just sat there like that, like they were both in disbelief that they actually went through with it. A strong hand supported the back of Glimmer’s neck while the other trailed down to the small of her back. Glimmer felt herself relax in her hold. Finally, she didn’t have to ignore the thoughts that have been clouding her mind were so long. It was out there now, and it was real.

Catra softly urged her on when she froze up, though she didn’t realize that she had. She was slow and gentle, which weren’t the words she’d expected to use when describing Catra of all people. She was holding back, though, Glimmer could feel it. She made every move with caution, like the slightest wrong move would make Glimmer shrink back. Maybe she was holding back because she was worried about something else.

They both stopped and pulled apart, both of them letting out a soft sigh as they allowed themselves to breathe again. Their eyes opened slowly, and they locked gazes again after what felt like forever. She struggled to fight a flustered smile as their foreheads remained pressed together. That just happened. That was a thing that just happened. She felt like words should be spoken in the long quiet time they spent just staring at each other. What else were they supposed to say?

Catra bit the bullet. “Glimmer…” She breathed.

Her eyes shot wide. “Did you just say my real name?” She didn’t mean to say that as loudly as she did, which probably ruined the moment. She was just so taken back, she never thought she’d hear her actual name come from her mouth. Catra’s ears swiveled back and she glared at her. Yeah, she might have ruined the moment. Glimmer giggled and adjusted her footing. “Sorry, what were you saying?”

Catra rolled her eyes and smirked. “I was going to say we should maybe do this when we  _ aren’t _ in freezing cold water? I was feeling your teeth clattering.”

“You sure that wasn’t just yours?” Glimmer teased, but she didn’t mind stepping out of the water now. She was getting pruney anyway. “Think you can swim back on your own?”

Catra grumbled. “Do I have to?”

“Aw, are you too much of a  _ wittle _ baby? You need me to carry you back?”

“ _ No _ ! I can do it myself!” Catra exclaimed before pushing off of her, doing her stupid and adorable doggy-paddle. 

Glimmer swam over to dry land and climbed up before Catra could, even though she had a head start. She gave her a smug look as she held a hand out for Catra to grab. She rolled her eyes before taking it, Glimmer pulling her up with her. She shook the water off of her, sending droplets flying toward Glimmer, which was probably payback for getting her in the water in the first place.

Catra gave her a glare, her body quivering from the cold. “Once that slime-rain is over, you better get a fire going, Sparkles.”

“Oh no, I guess we’ll have to cuddle for warmth in the meantime.” Glimmer said half-joking. Catra grumbled and started walking down the tunnel they came in. “Hey, don’t go back to acting all tough again! You were purring exactly one minute ago.”

“ _ Shut up _ .”


	4. Chapter 4

Memories of Horde Prime’s ship were burned into her mind. The bright white lights burning her eyes, the thousand unblinking gazes constantly boring into her back like a blade… his voice… that  _ thing _ he put Hordak in. The flashing lights, the electricity surging through his body causing him to scream in agony. Every night when she closed her eyes, she found herself in that pit of glowing green liquid. She was so afraid to go to sleep because there was a chance that she’d wake up and find herself back on that ship again.

She woke up suddenly, gasping sharply as her eyes shot open. Her entire body was quivering and her heart was racing. Her mind was telling her that she was in danger. Her eyes rapidly darted around, and she let herself relax. She’s not on the ship, she’s far away from that monster and his freakish clones. The cave was dark and warm. Glimmer was next to her. She was safe. 

Glimmer was laying on her back, one arm supporting the back of her head and the other resting on her stomach. The campfire they made had long since been put out, and the charred wood was laying a few feet away from them on the cave floor. They found a dry part of the cave where they slept for the night, away from angry giant birds and slime rain. Was it still night or was it day by now? She had no idea. Her internal clock had already been messed up on the time she spent on Prime’s ship, and even more now that time moves slower on this planet than on Etheria. 

Catra curled back up into a ball, slipping Glimmer’s arm back over her as she rested her head on her stomach. It felt weird being…  _ close _ to someone like this. Being in someone’s arms and sleeping beside them… it felt nice. It felt like she was finally getting the thing she had needed for a long time though she didn’t even know it. But it also felt like… a lot.

They kissed yesterday. Several times. They didn’t really address it aside from making some sarcastic jabs at each other. But they didn’t stop to really talk about what comes after. Were they just going to act like nothing happened, or was something going to come from this? She wasn’t sure if she was mentally prepared for either option, which would both result in confusing emotions and questions that may or may not yield any answers.

She kept staring at Glimmer while she slept, waiting for her to wake up so they could talk about…  _ that _ . Did they even need to talk about it? They already had to deal with everything else going on in this stupid planet, did they have to add relationship drama to the mix? But Catra probably wouldn’t get any peace of mind if they didn’t address the elephant in the room. When Glimmer wakes up, they are going to have to talk about it whether she wanted to or not.

Catra stood up slowly to not wake her, looking down at her for another moment before turning and walking down the tunnel where the scent of fresh air came from. She saw darkness at the other end of the tunnel. She stretched her head out of the mouth and saw that it was still nighttime. It was probably midnight or something, it was hard to tell. The howler-dinosaurs weren’t as loud as they were in daytime, and instead it was a bunch of bugs making noise in their place.

She sat down and tucked her knees up to her chest, sighing as she rested her chin on her bent knees. She could see some of the remnants of the slime rain from yesterday. They weren’t sticky anymore, they became hard as rocks overnight. A bunch of small critters were eating the bugs trapped in the hardened slime off the red plants of the forest, some animals were picking it off the ground and biting into it like ice.

She wanted to think about anything else, just for a little while. She tried to think about the shades of crimson and scarlet that painted the forest, or the sounds the animals made. Despite her efforts, her mind kept going back to the kiss. Now it was less about the kiss itself, and more the weight of the aftermath.

Catra really didn’t think that Adora and that other guy would be coming to save them. Some of Glimmer’s hope rubbed off on her, but she really didn’t think they’d be off this planet anytime soon. And yet, she still felt guilty for what she did. Why was she even guilty? Glimmer initiated the kiss, first of all. And second, she had no reason to care about Adora’s feelings. It wasn’t like Adora ever cared about hers.

Her ears angled back at the sound of footsteps interrupting her thoughts. Of course. Even for a few minutes, she couldn’t shake her off her tail. She inched over to give Glimmer some space to sit, but she didn’t turn around to greet her. She kept staring forward, pinning her ears back when she heard Glimmer standing behind her.

“Good morning,” She said softly before inviting herself in the open space beside Catra. She leaned back against the mouth of the cave, looking out into the messed-up planet they stumbled into. Catra made a sound in her throat to acknowledge her. “Are you okay?”

“Just tired,” Catra answered as she rubbed her left eye with her knuckle. She looked over at Glimmer, who was nervously patting her knees and making a great effort to avoid looking directly at Catra. She rolled her eyes. She wasn’t going to keep dancing around the subject. It was better to just pull the splinter out instead of just submissively tugging at it. “Are we going to talk about it? The kiss?”

“Yeah yeah, I know what you meant.” Glimmer’s face reddened at the word. She pulled her knees up to her chest the same way Catra had. She took a moment to think up a good response, and Catra patiently sat in silence. She groaned in frustration at her inability to come up with a perfect solution on the fly. “I don’t know! Where do we even start?”

Catra rolled her eyes. She took all that time and that’s the best she could come up with? “...I don’t know, Sparkles.” She licked the back of her hand and ran it behind her ear. “This is just…” Her voice trailed off and she didn’t bother to finish the thought. “Why’d you do it?”

That was probably the question that Glimmer was dreading the most. She buried her face in her palms as she let out a groan. “I don’t know! I just…”

“I didn’t think you liked me like that, Sparkles.” She smirked. Throwing some jokes in didn’t do much to ease the awkward tension. The thought of Glimmer actually having a crush on her was…  _ weird _ . What about Catra was lovable? And why was it Glimmer of all people to think of her that way?

Glimmer didn’t retaliate with a sarcastic jab the way Catra predicted she would. She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear as she sighed. “I still don’t know what I’m feeling right now, to be honest.”

“Oh,” Catra’s ears drooped. “So it was just a random spur of the moment thing, huh? No feelings, no nothing?” Catra wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.

“It doesn’t have to be. Or maybe it could be?” Glimmer assured her with a smile as she put a hand on Catra’s. Her ears perked up and she stared down at the soft, smaller hand that took her own. “We’ve got nothing but time, don’t we? We can figure it out together.”

Catra kept staring down at her hand. If a few weeks ago someone told Catra that she’d be having this conversation with the queen of Brightmoon, she’d punch them in the face. Yet here she was. Either there’s nothing between them and they just awkwardly continue on with their lives, or they get together and awkwardly have to explain to everyone back home. Which one was the least terrible? 

“Alright,” Catra sighed and twitched her ear. “So how are we gonna ‘figure it out’, huh? You know more about this relationship stuff than I do.”

Glimmer arched a brow at her. “Really? You know nothing about relationships?”

Catra gave her an annoyed glare. “Why’s that so surprising?”

“Nothing, I just thought—” Glimmer cleared her throat and decided to move past the subject, which was probably a good call. “I mean, people usually go on a couple dates to see if they connect.” They both looked at each other. “A date is when—”

“I know what a date is!” Catra exclaimed. “I just never thought  _ you _ of all people would be asking me out on one.”

“Feeling’s mutual, right?” Glimmer chuckled awkwardly. “I mean, can we talk about how crazy this is? Imagine me having to explain to the kingdom why I’m dating the person that used to be our number one enemy. Can you imagine us making the royal rounds through the kingdom together?”

Catra wasn’t sure if she felt weirded out by Glimmer looking so far into their future together, or actually kind of touched by the thought of someone actually envisioning a future that had her in it. Would they even last that long? Wait so if by some miracle they stayed together… Does that make Catra co-queen of Brightmoon? Would everyone just be okay with that? 

“I’ve never actually been in your kingdom,” Catra admitted. “I mean other than… you know what I mean.”

Glimmer giggled and inched closer to her so their sides were pressing together. “I’ll give you the grand tour, how’s that sound?”

It was nice to pretend for a little while that they could just go back home and everything would just be fine by the time they got back. Horde Prime would be gone, and they could be happy together. Glimmer would give her the tour of her kingdom like she said she would, and they’d stargaze together at nightfall. Catra wouldn’t have nightmares, she’d never be reminded of all the bad things she did in her life and she could start fresh in a new place to call home.

“Wow, you were quick to plan this all out.” Catra managed a soft smirk. “And I thought you’d get all uppity over how Adora and the arrow guy would feel.”

Glimmer covered her face with her hands and let out a long groan. Catra couldn’t tell if Glimmer had completely forgotten to take them into account or if she was trying to avoid the subject. “I know, I know! Ugh, it’s gonna be so awkward when they find us.” She sighed and turned her face away. “I already ruined things with both of them, this is just gonna… make things  _ so _ much worse.”

Catra lay her ears back. She nudged her with her shoulder before standing up. “Let’s not think about that stuff.” She said as she offered a hand out to her. “C’mon, let’s do that date thing.”

Glimmer looked surprised to see Catra genuinely interested in her offer. “Really?” She beamed and took her hand. “Alright, let’s do it!”

“ _ Soooo _ … how does this work?” They couldn’t exactly go for a stroll to the nearest restaurant and dine in together. They were on a nowhere planet and had to constantly be on guard for whatever crap the planet threw at them next. How were they supposed to have a date here? 

Glimmer shrugged. “I guess we just go for a walk and talk to each other?”

Catra blew air from her nose. “So pretty much do what we were always doing?”

“Yeah, but it's  _ romantic _ .” Glimmer nudged her with an elbow. “Alright, well I guess I’ll obviously be the one to plan this date out.”

“ _ Obviously _ ?” Catra echoed as she crossed her arms. “I don’t like how you doubt me, Sparkles.”

“Uh, can you blame me?” Glimmer crossed her arms to mimic Catra, and also probably to make fun of her. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware you had experience taking girls on dates between conquering villages. Please, please, let me learn from the master.”

“Uh huh, and how many have you been on?” Catra countered quickly. Glimmer raised a finger and opened her mouth to argue, only to stay quiet. The look in her eyes told Catra that she was right, which made her smirk grow bigger. “Yeah, thought so.”

“Wanna bet?” Glimmer gave her a challenging glare that Catra returned. She bent down slightly to meet her eyes better, which she could tell Glimmer thought was annoying. “Alright, how about this: Tonight you plan the date, tomorrow I do it, and then we judge to see who did a better job.”

“You should know better than to make bets with me, Sparkles.” Catra brushed the blunt end of her claw beneath Glimmer’s chin. “‘Cuz you’re always gonna lose.”

“Obviously,” Glimmer said sarcastically in a low voice as she squinted at her. “By the way, you’re stalling.”

Catra huffed and drew her hand back. “Fine.” She turned and jumped down, landing on the ground with a thud before standing back up and looking over her shoulder. “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

Glimmer rolled her eyes. “Says the one who stole an egg from a giant meat-eating bird!”

Catra waited for Glimmer to go back into the cave before she continued on her quest for a good spot for a date. Her muscles tensed up when she realized this was the first time they were separated from each other. Walking through this forest felt more intimidating now that Glimmer wasn’t beside her. It’s only for a little while, she kept telling herself. Glimmer is safe in the cave, nothing could happen to her.

Neither of them traversed this land at night, either. They both agreed it was just better to move around when they both could see the nonsense that was around them. Catra wasn’t sure what beasts woke up when the sun fell, and hopefully tonight she wouldn’t have to find out. 

Catra stopped in her tracks to really process what she was doing. She was going on a date with Glimmer, her enemy for three years. She knew that she was repeating that sentence over and over and it was unoriginal at this point, but she was still in disbelief that this was even happening. She could just imagine everyone’s faces at home if she told them that this was happening. Scorpia would probably say something cheesy and fluffy, Lonnie and the others would probably make fun of her for going soft.

That thought was what snapped her back to reality. She was kissing a sparkly princess— _ queen _ —in a pretty pink cave, holding her hand and cuddling with her, now she was going on a date with her. Not even a month ago, she was single-handedly commanding the Horde on Etheria and had an army in her command. Now she was getting flustered over planning a date with the queen of pink sparkles.

Catra started looking around for an animal to fight or a tree to punch, something to make her feel tough again. Just because nobody from back home was around meant that Catra could let Glimmer turn soft and delicate like her princess friends. She unsheathed her claws and started swiping away at the nearest bush. Leaves, berries, and branches were sent flying from a single swipe of her sharp claws.

A glowing pink orb suddenly fluttered up from the bush she attacked, starting her and causing her to jump back and let out a yelp in alarm. It looked like some kind of bug similar to the fireflies back home, but bigger. It hovered in place in the air for a moment, its light-pink light reflecting against the surfaces around it. The moment Catra moved, it started hovering towards her. 

Driven by a primal instinct to pounce on glowy things, Catra jumped forward and clapped her hands around it. The pink light turned off like it was on a switch, leaving her in darkness. When she slowly opened her hands, the bug started glowing again and fluttered its wings to try and fly away. Before it could, Catra closed her hands over it again. Did Glimmer like to eat bugs? Is that a romantic thing to eat on a date?

More of the pink glowing bugs began to appear around her, orbiting around her like the moons to Etheria. Catra slowly pried her hands open and let the bug fly free to join its friends. Knowing this planet, these bugs probably ate meat or something. Instead, the bug she caught gently brushed against her hand. 

“Um… are you guys friendly alien bugs or…?” She said awkwardly. Now she was talking to alien bugs... what was going on with her? The bugs started flying off in another direction, moving in an orderly line. Alright, that was kind of weird. When Catra turned around to walk in the other direction, they started flying around her again. “What, you want to show me something?”

That seemed to be the answer. She rolled her eyes and started walking after these weirdly helpful insects. Why was she doing this? How did her life get to the point where she was listening to pink lightning bugs that were probably trying to eat her? It was easier if she just didn’t question it anymore. 

* * *

Catra scrambled down the tunnel, huffing from exhaustion after having jogged all the way back here in a hurry. “Ay, Sparkles!” She called, the echo of the cave walls carrying her voice towards her. She went back to the place where she and Glimmer had fallen asleep a few hours ago. To her relief, Glimmer was still there. She was sitting up and rubbing her eyes with her knuckles, A rock cut into the shape of an arrow and a long stick sitting beside her. She probably fell asleep trying to make a new spear. Did that mean Catra was taking too long? Hopefully the reason why she took so long would be worth it.

“Catra, you’re back?” Glimmer looked so happy to see her, it almost made Catra hesitate for a moment. She stood up and stifled a yawn. “Did you find anything?”

“I did,” Catra’s tail was wiggling from enthusiasm and pride. “Or are you too sleepy to hang?”

“I’m fine. Unless you’re trying to forfeit the bet?” Glimmer arched a brow at her.

“Never.” Catra took Glimmer’s hand and hurriedly led her up the tunnel. “You’re gonna get a bit of exercise, hope you don’t mind.”

“I do mind, actually.”

“Too bad.”

“You seem excited,” Glimmer chuckled in amusement at how Catra’s tail was moving and how her eyes were so wide. “I didn’t think you’d actually put effort into this, to be honest.”

“What did I tell you about doubting me, Sparkles?” Catra arched a brow at her as they climbed out of the tunnels. “You’re gonna eat your words after tonight, I promise you.”

“Oh really?” Glimmer mimicked her arched brow as Catra helped her down the rocks until her feet met steady ground. Her body stiffened at the sound of a raspy roar in the distance. “Uh, are you sure it's safe to be out here when it's this dark out?”

“Scared of the dark, Sparkles?” Catra said close to her ear before taking her hand and walking ahead of her. Catra was going to have to punch a lot of trees in the morning to feel tough again after tonight.

“No,” Glimmer argued, though she pressed close to Catra’s side anyway. 

It was hard not to flinch at every noise made around them when she could barely see what was around her. The rustle of leaves and scurrying of paws made her squeeze Catra’s hand tighter and tighter until the blood stopped flowing to her fingers. The ground was becoming more uneven as the terrain became more and more hilly. Catra was moving in a rush to try and get to the spot before the sun came up, but she had to slow down to make sure Glimmer didn’t crack her head over any rocks.

“When you said there was exercise,” Glimmer panted, “I thought you meant it’d be a short walk, not a whole hike. Is this your idea of a date? Because you’re losing points so far.”

“And I’m about to win ‘em back,” Catra’s confidence was growing them closer to the destination they were getting.

The colors started to change to purple. Glimmer could tell, even when she didn’t have very much light, aside from the bioluminescent plants that they’d occasionally pass. This environment seemed more tropical than the others, with palm trees and exotic fruits swinging overhead.The smell of salt was in the wind, and waves were gentle crashing against the sandy shore in the distance.

“Are we going to a beach?” Glimmer asked as she sniffed the air. “Catra, that is  _ such _ a cliche.”

“Ah, whatever.” Catra mumbled as her ears flattened back. She was thankful for the shadows that hid her blush, but the sky was slowly becoming brighter. She perked her ears up and stopped in her tracks. That smug look returned to her face as she looked down at Glimmer. “We’re here.”

She pushed the large leaves out of the way, revealing a beach with light violet sand and dark purple water on the other side. Catra grumbled and stepped forward, kicking around until the pink lightning bugs that missed their cue took to the air and lit up the beach in soft shades of pink. Catra looked over to Glimmer, watching as she watched in surprise and awe at the sight before her. Her hand raised to her mouth as she grinned widely at Catra’s little display.

“Wow, you… you really went all out, huh?” Glimmer said as she stepped onto the beach, making sure to avoid any fireflies that landed on the soft violet sand. “Alright, you’re earning your points back.”

“What’d I say about doubting me?” Catra purred. They both sat down in the sand, which was loose and soft against their skin. Catra’s ears lay back and she averted her gaze as she pulled something out from behind her. “I um… I caught this for you on the way.”

Glimmer’s blush and whimsical look in her gaze immediately went away at the sight of the large dead rodent Catra was holding by its skinny tail. The thing was bigger than Glimmer’s head, and its four beady eyes were staring right into her soul. She took it from her to be polite, but she was visibly cringing when the giant dead rat was hanging limp in her hands.

“That’s… um… very sweet.” Glimmer said hesitantly as she set the rat down away from her. She gave its head a gentle shove away when she saw its lifeless gaze still staring directly at her. Glimmer softly smiled and leaned forward. She softly planted a kiss on Catra’s cheek, which made her tail fluff up and thump against the sand. “This is cute, Catra. Thanks for doing this. It really cheered me up, I mean it.”

Catra’s ears perked up as their eyes met. Catra couldn’t look into her eyes for long without that dumb fuzzy feeling welling up in her chest. She glanced away and rubbed behind her ears. “Ah, it’s nothin’.” She said as her tail swept the sand back and forth. She cleared her throat and brushed her hair back. “Don’t get all sentimental on me, Sparkles, we haven’t even seen the sunrise yet.”

They both turned to face the water, Catra embracing Glimmer from behind and resting her chin on her shoulder. She leaned into Glimmer’s warmth, not fighting the purr that escaped her as her eyes slowly closed shut. Glimmer’s hand raised and she gently rubbed behind Catra’s ears. Normally she’d be annoyed when people messed with her ears, but she let it slide. It felt kind of nice, actually.

All of this felt nice. She couldn’t name a time in her life where she felt this relaxed. Headaches from sleepless nights and nightmares about every wrong choice she had ever made in her life were gone. The tension in her muscles melted away, and all she felt was warmth and peace in her heart and mind. It was like nothing else was wrong in the world. It was peaceful. She never thought peace was something that a person like her could have, yet it was right here in her arms. Maybe she didn’t deserve it and maybe it came too easy for her, but she had it and she wasn’t going to let it go.

“I’m surprised nothing’s come to chase us yet,” Glimmer said in a quiet voice that broke the silence.

“Don’t jinx it,” Catra murmured into her neck. “There’s still a chance this rat’s mom will come and try and eat us.”

“If that happens, I’ll let it eat you.”

Catra didn’t feel like responding with a snarky quip back at her. She didn’t know how long she was going to feel so calm and at peace, and she was going to hold onto it for as long as she could. She let her eyes slowly peel open. Sunlight was starting to rise from beyond the horizon, painting the skies in dark shades of purple and gold. She looked over at Glimmer, who was staring off at the ocean with a longing gaze.

“Spark-... Glimmer?” She said. Glimmer perked an ear to her. “Do you really think…” She paused to contemplate whether or not she should go through with the question. “Do you really think we’ll ever see home again?”

Glimmer’s chest rose and fell with a heavy sigh. “I don’t know,” She answered honestly. It kind of hurt to hear her say that, and not an overly-optimistic ‘yes, absolutely’ or whatever. “But if we’re going to be stuck on this planet forever, then at least I have you. Right?”

Catra’s tail wrapped around her ankle as she nuzzled her neck. “Right.” The fireflies went away now, but neither of them noticed. “I’ve been thinking about cutting my hair.”

Glimmer cracked a smile at the random thought she said out of nowhere. “Huh?”

“Yeah, I dunno.” Catra mumbled. “I just… it feels like something I gotta do, y’know? To, like, forget about everything bad I did.”

“Not forget,” Glimmer corrected as she took Catra’s hand. “To  _ grow _ from it.”

Glimmer ran a hand through Catra’s hair. Catra flinched at the gesture and Glimmer drew back. Catra didn’t know why she did that. Her body sensed a hand touching her hair, and it immediately assumed that it was in danger. Catra’s ears drooped in embarrassment and she brought Glimmer’s hand back up.

“Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be,” Glimmer was slower to touch her hair again this time. “Have you ever worn short hair before?”

Catra’s brows scrunched up as she tried to picture herself with short hair. Her hair was always long and thick, never short like Glimmer’s. She was having trouble picturing herself with that kind of style. “No, not really.” She admitted.

“I can cut it for you if you want,” Glimmer offered. Her eyes dilated at the thought, she was already picturing all the styles she could cut her hair into. Catra wasn’t sure if she should be terrified by that or not.

Instead, she managed a smile at her. “I’d like that.”

Glimmer looked down at the sand, letting her fingers run through it as her tone shifted. “So… do you really think that we can actually… have a relationship? Together?” Her voice was wavering with caution and uncertainty.

It was tempting to just say yes. She wanted to say yes and have Glimmer be with her, and they could be like this every day for the rest of their lives. That’d be everything she could have wanted. She was surprised that she didn’t feel as eager to answer her question as she expected to be. Thinking about what (more so  _ who _ ) was holding her back from saying yes hurt too much, so she tried to semi-derail the subject with a sarcastic comment.

“Aw, you want me to be your queen, Sparkles?” She said with a forced smirk.

Glimmer smiled at her. “I would, actually.” Catra’s eyes widened at how quickly and surely she answered her question that was meant to be a joke.

Catra’s ears lay flat and she looked away. “I’ll… I’m still thinking about it.”

“That’s alright,” Glimmer gently squeezed her hand. “We’ve got nothing but time here, remember?”

Silence returned as the sun rose over the beach and warmed the violet sand with a gentle touch of sunlight. The howler-dinosaurs woke up and began whooping and barking into the morning sky a few miles off back in the red forest. She and Glimmer both had a laugh about how they ruined the romantic atmosphere before going quiet again.

The sound of an explosion startled both of them. They both gasped in alarm at the sound and quickly jumped to their feet, muscles bunching and heart pounding. Catra’s eyes were darting around almost dazed, unsure of where the noise came from. She honestly thought that she was hallucinating the noise and it was just horrible flashbacks manifesting in her mind again. But if Glimmer heard it, then it must be real. And that terrified her.

Glimmer gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, tears forming in her eyes. “Catra!” She cried, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her around. “Catra, look!”

She pointed up at the sky as a fireball plummeted into the atmosphere and continued falling out of their view on the other side of the mountains. Catra’s heart sunk when she realized what that was.  _ Please no, _ A very loud and selfish voice in her head said. Please let that not be what she thought it was. 

“Is that…?” Catra’s voice trailed off.  _ No, I’m not ready. I can’t see Adora again, not yet. How am I supposed to… what do I…? _

Glimmer pulled her in for a hug as she cried into her chest. “They’ve found us!”


End file.
